Demijohn-washer.



J. J. CLIFFORD.

DEMIJOHN WASHER.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1905.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I INVENTOR Jamem] azlff'ord,

WITNESSES:

PMM V K M fi COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..\\ASlHNGTO- n. c.

% ATTORNEYS J. J. CLIFFORD.

DEMIJOHN WASHER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 11, 1905.

1,082,502, Patented Dec. 30, 1913.

3 SHEETS-$115111 2.

WITNESSESS INVENTOR COLUMBIA PLANOGhAPu cm. WASHINGTON. D. c. v 1 v J. J. CLIFFORD.

DEMIJOHN WASHER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1905.

1,082,502. Patented Dec. 30, 1913,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l 7 By V W ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (TO-,WASHINGTON. 04 C.

JAMES J. CLIFFORD, Q1? GREEN ISLAND, NEW YORK.

DEMIJOI-IN-WASHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3%), 1913.

Application filed September 11, 1905. Serial No. 277,843.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES J. CLIFFORD, citizen of the United States, residing at Green Island, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DemijohnlVashers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to construct a simple, practical and efficient device particularly adapted for washing demijohns, large bottles, and jugs.

The salient and most important feature of novelty in my invention consists in the means or mechanism for washing the interior of a demijohn or other large container. This latter means or mechanism comprises, essentially, a rotatable member, to which member are attached collapsible arms in such manner that when said member is rotated the arms are thrown outwardly by centrif ugal force, the initial outward movement of said arms being efiected by spring mechanlsm operatlng thereon. Said arms are each provided with a covering, preferably of rub ber, which furnishes a suitable rubbing ma- 1 terial for the interior of the demij ohn.

In my present inventlon I may make use of springs, merely to insure the throwing out of the individual arms in the proper di- 1 rection, but their use for this purpose, while i advantageous, is not essential.

apparent, from the following detailed description thereof, taken in COI1]llI1ClI1011 with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 represents a plan view of the;

demijohn washer Fig. 2 a side view thereof; F ig. 3 a general elevation of the water mo tor, for furnishing the necessary power to operate the washing mechanism, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4: is a detail view, of the automatic means for reciprocating the washing mechanism, taken on line of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow; F ig. 5 a vertical cross sectional view, partly in elevation, taken through the motor and showing the rotating shaft carrying the washing arms or members, said members being in a partly extended position. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views of the washing arms or members in different positions.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive A designates suitable power mechanism; as shown, a water wheel or motor. The motor, as a whole, is designated by, A, and the rotatable or power driven element, r, thereof is secured to a hollow shaft or spindle, s, which hollow shaft is splined on a second shaft, B, the groove in shaft, B, being designated by a. This construction permits of the shaft, B, being rotated and reciprocated. One end of the shaft B is sup ported near said end in a cross head C, the said cross head being adapted to reciprocate on supporting slides or bearings 6, Z), the inner sides of which slides are provided with racks c, c, as clearly shown in Fig. l. The cross head C has an oscillating member d, pivotally attached thereto, which member is provided with an extension or arm 6, adapted to contact alternately with trip arms f, 7, fixed to the framework of the machine, whereby said member is oscillated. The member cl carries two pinions g, adapted to mesh with a gear wheel it, fast on the shaft B. The spindles of the pinions g, 9, also carry worm wheels i, i, which mesh, respectively, with the racks c, c. As will be apparent from Fig. 4, both of the worm 1 wheels 2', i, cannot be in mesh with their respective racks c, c, at the same time, and the construction of member (Z is such that both of them may be kept out of mesh with the racks c, c if desired, thereby permitting the b cross head to be reciprocated manually. In The invention Wlll be more fully understood, and the other features thereof will be i the normal operation of the mechanism described, however, one of the worm wheels is in mesh with its cooperating rack, during the forward movement of the shaft B, while during the return movement of said shaft the other worm wheel is in mesh with its cooperating rack. It will be observed that when the shaft B is rotated, carrying with it the gear wheel 72,, said gear wheel transmits motion to the pinions g, g, which in turn, through the medium of their spindles, operate the worm wheels 71, z", thereon; the cross head B being thus fed forward, or returned, depending on which of the worm wheels is in mesh with its rack. The trip arms f, f, are in effect cam surfaces, the extension or arm a on the oscillating member (Z being adapted to ride beneath the trip arm f, and thus throw the worm wheel a" into mesh with the rack bar 0, thereby advancing the shaft B and cross head C toward the motor. This movement continues until the arm 6 rides on the upper surface of the trip arm f, thereby tilting the oscillating member (Z and throwing the worm wheel 71 out of mesh with the rack c, and throwing the worm wheel 2' into mesh or engagement with the rack c, whereupon the movement of the shaft B and cross head C is reversed, the movement then being such that the cross head is receding from the motor.

The end of the shaft B, opposite to the end which is attached to the cross head'C, is provided with a screw threaded socket, indicated by dotted lines at j in Fig. 5, into which is screwed a chuck D, said chuck being provided with a screw threaded stem is forming a screw joint with the socket The outer end of the chuck D is bifurcated or slotted, thereby providing a means for pivoting to the chuck, the arms Z, Z, by means of a pivot m. When the shaft B is rotated rapidly the loosely pivoted arms Z Z are thrown outwardly, owing to centrifugal force. In order to insure the initial movement of these arms Z, Z, in opposite directions, spring a, a, may be attached to the chuck in such manner as to bear on the ends of the arms Z, Z, respectively; but when said arms are extended to their normal working position, they cease to be acted upon by said springs and remain in their extended position by virtue of centrifugal force only. As stated above, said arms Z, Z, are preferably covered with, or have attached thereto, some material which will perform the rubbing operation on the interior of the container efiectively. l have found that rubber molded in, substantially, the form shown in Fig. 5, wherein a three sided piece having sockets adapted to slip over the arms Z, Z, is suitable for this apparatus. I have designated the socket parts as 0, 0, respectively, the said socket parts being connected at their outward ends by a band 29, which is adapted for rubbing the bottom of the container when the shaft D and the arms Z, Z, are in their extended positions, as shown in Fig. 1. The rubber socket members 0, 0, are, preferably, provided with extensions or feathers g, g, which are of special utility for rubbing the upper part and neck of the demijohn. As is clearly shown in Fig. 5, the rotating member 1" of the water wheel A carries with it a hollow shaft 8, to which the shaft B is splined. This construction is of special importance when the shaft B and the washing mechanism occupies the position shown in Fig. 6, for the reason that the hollow shaft .9 and the arms Z, Z, rotate together, thereby preventing undue friction and the resulting wear on the rubbing material attached to said arms Z, Z.

Referring now, particularly, to Figs. 1, 2 and 5, it will be noted that one end of the hollow shaft 3 carries a yieldable member t, loosely sleeved thereon, said member being held under tension by a spring 2?, confined between said member If and an abutment u on the frame of the machine, said abutment u also forming a partial support or bearing for the hollow shaft 8. The abutment a has pivoted thereto two arms c, c, which extend therefrom and unite to form a link or bail adapted to fit over the demijohn to be washed and hold the same against longitudinal movement during the washing operation. As clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the outer face of the yieldable member t is, preferably, provided with a cushion facing so, which provides a yieldable seat for the mouth of the demijohn during the washing operation, and by virtue of the yielding action of said member 25, the demijohn is held fixedly in position. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the demijohn, during the washing operation, rests in a suitable seat or cradle formed by the two semi-circular members y, y. The members y, 3 may be attached to the framework of the machine, which extends outwardly from the casing of the water motor, and if desired, the end of this framework, most remote from the motor, may be supported by a cross piece 2, or other support in the washing Vat E. The vat E may be used in washing the exterior of the demijohn, and also for supplying the water for washing the interior of the demij ohn.

From the foregoing description of the apparatus, its operation will be readily understood, but it may be stated briefly as follows :VVhen the machine is not performing the washing operation the shaft B, arms Z, Z, and associated members, occupy the position shown in Fig. 6; a demijohn having been placed on the supports y, 12 the bail or link formed from the arms '1), o, is swung over the end of the bottle, thereby bringing the mouth of the bottle into yielding engagement with the packing on the yieldable member 23,- the shaft B is then advanced, either automatically as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or manually, the motor being in operation; the result is that the forward feed of the shaft B into the demijohn, while under rotation, throws the arms Z, Z outwardly, the rubbing medium thereon thereby coming in contact with every portion of the interior of the demijohn, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

It will, of course, be understood that many minor changes may be made in the apparatus as described, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an apparatus of the class described,

a hollow motor shaft, a motor for directly rotating the same, a second shaft rotatable and reciprocatable within said motor shaft, substantially rigid bottle washing members operated by said second shaft and retractable within the hollow shaft, and springs for throwing said members outwardly when the latter are positioned outside the hollow shaft, said springs being free from said washing members when the latter are in their fully extended positions.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating member havin arms pivoted thereto, and independent springs for acting separately on each of said arms to impart an initial outward movement thereto, said springs being free from the arms when the latter are in their fully extended positions.

3. In a bottle washer, a hollow shaft, a chambered chuck, members pivoted within the chuck, and retractable within said shaft, and springs cooperating with said chuck and the pivoted members for directing said members outwardly when said members are withdrawn from the chuck, said springs being free from the said members when the latter are in their fully extended positions.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a hollow shaft, a second shaft rotatable therewith and reciprocatable therein, pivoted members free to be thrown outwardly by the rotation of the second shaft and adapted to be collapsed within the hollow shaft by endwise movement in one direction of the second shaft, and a separate spring acting directly on the inner end of each of said members but unattached thereto for imparting initial outward movement to the memers.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a rotating member, arms pivotally secured to said rotating member, a separate spring adapted to act on each of said arms for imparting thereto an initial movement outwardly, which springs are free from the arms when the latter are rapidly rotated and in their extended positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES J. CLIFFORD.

Witnesses:

PATRICK CANNON, J ACOB NoLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

